Post navigation

Francesca brings us along with her into the journey of how Cartier, a small family jewelry business transforms into what it is today-an extremely admired jewelry firm over the globe. She brings us through each generation, from Louis Francois Carter to Jean Jacques Cartier, her own grandfather. Through all of these generations, she emphasizes the importance of uniqueness, forward thinking, family, and hard work that Cartier truly represents. The work is textbook-like in its dedication to detail, and can be a bit overwhelming for those less interested in jewelry.

Hebets emphasizes the importance of a YOU-centric business — a business that always prioritizes the customer’s needs — and gives examples of how companies (like Patagonia) utilize this model while providing useful tips for aspiring business leaders. Though it’s of interest to anyone in the business world, smaller and/or newer business owners (particularly those in the fitness industry, where many of her examples come from) might find her advice most helpful. I learned a handful of useful techniques that have applications outside business and found it to be, overall, an enjoyable, relaxing, and a somewhat informative read.

3 out of 5 stars
The short version:
This felt like a second-rate rehashing of The Power of Habit. Even though the stories are different and *some* of the points are different, you could have probably whittled this down to 2-3 chapters and stuck it onto the back of The Power of Habit and called it a day…

Wyatt’s father has disappeared, leaving only a mysterious note (“One day you will understand). It’s a great hook and a fun beginning. The main character is a teenager from our world who’s somehow transported to this other world, and that’s where the mystery begins. That said, the rest of the book didn’t live up to premise. A lot of things are left unresolved, which is fine if it’s a planned series, but was still fairly frustrating considering where we started. Many of the characters (Wyatt in particular) are easy to relate to and well-developed, there was also a fair bit of action (our heroes getting attacked, etc.) but overall, I felt a little disappointed. Continue reading →

Cut to the Chase:
I wanted to like this book. I tried to like this book. I even actually liked parts of this book. Yet ultimately, I found it slow and a bit difficult to finish, which is sad considering how much of the set-up is great. You’ve got your anxious bookworm of a protagonist (see: Bridget Jones meets every romance heroine ever) who’s going through quite a few life changes (finding out the father she never knew has died and left her with a family and possibly something else in a to-be-read-later will) and of course, there’s hot hero in the background. Parts of this book were absolutely adorable, and there’s quite a bit of fun pop culture, but parts of it felt almost painfully cliche and though there’s a very, very well-written part buried about 3/4 in, I ultimately can’t quite recommend this.Continue reading →

Cut to the Chase
Wyatt’s father has disappeared, leaving only a mysterious note (“One day you will understand). It’s a great hook and a fun beginning. The main character is a teenager from our world who’s somehow transported to this other world, and that’s where the mystery begins. That said, the rest of the book didn’t live up to premise. A lot of things are left unresolved, which is fine if it’s a planned series, but was still fairly frustrating considering where we started. Many of the characters (Wyatt in particular) are easy to relate to and well-developed, there was also a fair bit of action (our heroes getting attacked, etc.) but overall, I felt a little disappointed.

In Greater Detail
Wyatt a lonely thirteen-year-old boy who’s trapped in the middle of nowhere… in a foreign world. Thus, the narrator has the reader’s general expectations about what the world ought to look l ike.

He meets Marrock, who is a wolf (who talks and helps protect him). There’s an element of danger right away: there are storms that are dangerous, eventually trees that are also potentially malicious). Wyatt rides the wolf to safety and they eventually meet Lex, a winged beast who tells Wyatt about a quest he must complete in order to find the Fae Princess (there’s not a lot of explanation about why this is suddenly the quest, just characters, followed by a quest).

There’s also a background threat of war and plenty of solo adventures for Wyatt throughout the book (for example, Wyatt must go to the forest alone, where he then meeds Dryads, and eventually gets some powers).

There’s everything from a dragon a wizard, with a lot of small quests throughout.

This book was slightly disappointing even though there was quite a bit of action. I just felt like none of the larger questions were resolved, and it was a lot of somewhat standard going from one location to another, performing quests without anyone ever stopping to ask why. Perhaps I’m just grumpy or have read too much fantasy recently, but this one was, while entertaining, slightly disappointing after an interesting start.

Okay, there are slightly more differences than that, but if you started off thinking it was Asian heroine version of Ready Player One you wouldn’t be too far off the mark. The time period feels a little more “now” but otherwise it’s a girl saving the world by playing a video game.

This is a very well-intentioned book that is more informative and encyclopedic than actually inspiring. As a female engineer with two daughters, this is the type of reading material I want to see more of, and perhaps because I had such high expectations, I was ultimately disappointed.

The idea behind the book is fantastic: the introduction explains that a New York Times obituary for rocket scientist Yvonne Brill highlighted her cooking skills (I think specifically, beef stroganoff) and her relationship with her husband (following him to different jobs, raising three children)… as opposed to her own, individual accomplishments. You know, like being a rocket scientist.

This is a great book for beginning readers — not only are the pictures engaging in the way that all Seuss-drawn books are, but the words are simple and meant to be either already in the emerging reader’s vocabulary, or on the edge of what they can do. There are great rhymes (which adds to the young reader’s ability to guess at what the words they can’t read must be), and as always, the story flow is great.

There are a total of six books and the only real drawback is that not all of the books are illustrated by Seuss (only I think the first two are both written and illustrated by Seuss, that those are definitely our two favorites (Marvin K. Mooney, Will you Please Go Now! and The Shape of Me and Other Stuff). I think all the books are good, but the collection is definitely worth owning for nothing more than the first two books if you’re a die-hard Seuss fan, or just looking for something that will hold your emerging reader’s interest.

Pros:
1. Good for a kid who’s a train lover. They not only are taking a train trip, but also get to tour the train and learn about the various parts/people on a train.
2. Age appropriate, family friend story line.

Cons:
1. As a kid, I liked the Berenstain bears, but now, as a parent and adult, I feel as though there are many better illustrated options out there. They’re illustrated the same way they always have been, but I can tell that my kids aren’t as drawn in by these drawings compared to other books produced under the I Can Read series.
2. The reading level feels a little off to me. It’s definitely not a “My First” level, but it’s borderline Level 2? And some of the words introduced aren’t common words (like “caboose” which is great for this book, probably not going to be useful outside of this book).

Though I’m not disappointed to have bought this book, I think there are definitely better “I Can Read Level 1″ books out there…